A surprising, old school looter propped up by a contained sci-fi campaign, ferocious combat, and a modding system that encourages endless creativity.

A slightly embarrassing attempt to recall the early days of 3D platforming, with a central gimmick that never really captures the imagination and clunky controls and gameplay.

A complex space base builder remake that’s marred by inadequate tutorials, clumsy attempts at humour, and a general lack of polish.

A joyful, colourful, and hugely inventive cavalcade of co-op antics that makes superb use of having two players for both its unique challenges and unscripted hijinks.

By perfecting the Dungeon Keeper formula, the best James Bond game since GoldenEye proves that playing the bad guy really can be more fun.

A thoroughly entertaining and highly playable Metroidvania, that goes beyond being a simple retro homage and offers some memorable gameplay twists and storytelling surprises.

A unique blend of visuals, music, gameplay, and heady story themes combine in one of the most artistically daring video games of recent years.

A fantastic tour de force for the Switch and arguably the best Monster Hunter game ever, with a huge range of features and monsters, both new and old, and great co-op gameplay.

A brief and slightly dull detective mystery set in the colourful and conversation-heavy universe of The Outer Worlds, that lacks its parent’s variety, character, and joie de vivre.

It’s amazing it runs on the hardware at all, but the performance is a huge compromise, especially in a solely competitive environment.

Although simplistic, the gradual upgrade path retains an addictive magic and you can unlock new traps and extra characters, although disappointingly the latter are only cosmetically different.

It’s a joylessly over-commercialised and entertainment free monstrosity.

It works perfectly on a touchscreen, the experience of gently manoeuvring light through each level proving engaging and oddly relaxing.

Gentle and never particularly taxing, the game’s straightforward puzzles complement its charming art style and quietly melancholic story, in this unusual and attractively drawn game.

A love story told through a first person puzzle game that delights in playing with scale and recursive environments, even if its conundrums eventually feel a little undercooked.

A disappointing waste of a fun combat system and an impressive graphics engine, with ugly artwork and unremarkable storytelling that expends all its goodwill disappointingly quickly.

After 30 hours you’ll still feel like you’ve only scratched the surface, with every new encounter feeling fresh and rewarding. It’s also impressive to think that this is your world alone and that anyone else playing will have their own unique experience with happenstance adventures. You can play solo but with more territories and bosses to come you’ll soon want to convince your friends to join you, so you can adventure together. And for such a low price it will be hard for them to say no. [Early Access Review - 30 hours]

A needlessly stringent remake of the original two arcade classics that is just as frustratingly difficult as ever, although it does have a neat co-op mode.

The best Dynasty Warriors game so far is still barely competent compared to other action games but for those seeking more Persona 5 this is a fun, if trashy diversion.

One of the best coin-op collections ever produced, not just in terms of the games included but the excellent presentation and range of options.

A well designed, entertaining, and black humoured roguelite that does a great job of balancing long-term progress with the need to extend individual runs.

Ultimately, Ys 9 is largely the same game as the last one but in a fundamentally less interesting context. As bombastic as the combat is there’s not quite enough depth in it to compensate for the game’s failings, relatively minor as they may be. It’s still an enjoyable and breezy experience (you could beat the whole story in 30 hours with time to spare) but we’d still recommend Ys 8 as the preferred way to dip your toe into Falcom’s waters. Then, if you want a similar experience but just not quite as good, there’s always Ys 9 for afterwards.

There are boosters you can use to blast away multiple blocks at a time, and hundreds upon hundreds of levels, but no real sense of evolution as you progress. It’s as if it were intended to be a free to play game that was unexpectedly re-purposed, leaving visible traces of its original mechanics without any real point to them.

It has a polished interface, and the sound effects as you move board elements are first rate, but the puzzles are monotonously similar throughout, meaning you’re working with the same set of problems at level 80 as you were in the tutorial.

One of the best modern Super Mario titles is made that little bit better and accompanied by a brand-new game that bends the formula in new and exciting ways.

Barely changed from the original PS4 versions but that doesn’t change the fact that these are two of the best Dark Souls inspired action role-players of the previous generation.

A thoroughly entertaining work of video game art that improves mechanically on the original and proves thought-provoking in terms of more than just the puzzle-solving.

Playing as a powerful, rage-filled werewolf should be the perfect set-up for a great video game but Earthblood misses so many obvious opportunities it’s as if the game itself is cursed.